Pennsylvania and Oklahoma also issue stay-at-home orders.
3/25/2020 9:00
ACA International continues to monitor state and city updates and remains available as a resource for members during this difficult time of fast-moving and often ambiguous regulatory change. In addition, our team has maintained regular direct and indirect communications with state and federal regulators to receive up-to-the-minute guidance on industry-relevant orders and emergency regulations, which we have been and will continue to parse and report on at regular intervals.
For additional daily updates, members may join ACA’s advocacy team including Vice President and Senior Counsel of Federal Advocacy Leah Dempsey, Corporate Counsel Colin Winkler and Vice President, State Government and Unit Affairs Andy Madden for a Daily Huddle at 11 a.m., Central Standard Time weekdays. More information including state compliance, federal advocacy and ACA online education is also available on the ACA News COVID-19 Updates webpage.
Here are the latest updates on state guidance:
Oklahoma
Effective March 25 through April 16, 2020, all businesses not identified as being within a critical infrastructure sector as defined by the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security and located in a county experiencing community spread of COVID-19, as identified by OSDH on its website, shall close, according to a press release from the Gov. Kevin Stitt. Additional sectors may be designated as critical by Executive Order or Memorandum.
New Mexico
UPDATE: The New Mexico Financial Institutions Division issued a directive stating that all businesses licensed and regulated by the financial institutions division are considered "Essential" businesses under the health department guidelines and are allowed to remain open.
An order issued by Secretary of Health Kathy Kunkel and effective March 24 closes all non-essential businesses, requiring 100 percent of the state’s non-essential workforce to work from home.
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine revised the "Stay at Home" order to include Erie County. The new order now includes eight counties: Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. View the list of essential businesses here. Information on the financial services sector is available on page 4. The order will continue until April 6, 2020.
U.S. Department of Education
New plans are in place for student loan collections and wage garnishments due to the COVID-19 national emergency, the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced this week.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) will halt collection actions and wage garnishments to provide additional assistance to borrowers for at least 60 days, according to a news release.
The plan will be in effect, retroactively, for a period of at least 60 days starting March 13, 2020.
During that time, private collection agencies have been instructed to stop all proactive collection activities, including making phone calls to borrowers and issuing collection letters and billing statements. Private collection agencies are permitted to provide assistance upon the borrower's request.
U.S. Department of Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced its first round of published guidance to provide information to employees and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when it takes effect on April 1, 2020, according to a news release. Read more from ACA in: News from Washington: COVID-19 Legislative and Regulatory Updates.
For more information on how the ACA Licensing staff can assist with your licensing needs, please contact us at [email protected] or call (952) 926-6547.